Matrix Games Forums

I recently downloaded the demo for CEAW and so far, I like what I see. There are just a few questions that I have about the full game that I would like answered before I shell out 50 bucks.

First of all, is the AI any better with the full game? Because it is absolutely horrible on the demo. On the hardest setting for the allies in 1944, I was able to land my army in Holland and capture Berlin before the hour time limit expired.

Also, is there a reasonably large community of gamers who utilize the PBEM option. Judging by this forum, it looks like there are. But I dont know anyone who has the game and I would need to be able to pretty easily set up matches with people on the internet.

Do you need to be a computer guru to make mods? I've noticed that there are a lot of mods that people have made for this game, and I was wondering if there is an intuitive option built into the game that allowes for easy moding without having to jump through any hoops.

Is taking the capital of a country always the end-all be-all of knocking out that country? It seems like the only way to beat a country is to take their capital. And if you take their capital, they surrender no matter what, even if they still have a large and viable army. I know that if Hitler had taken Moscow, that wouldnt have meant the end of the red army. It certainly didnt work for Napoleon.

Finally, IF THERE ARE ANY OLD BOOKCASE BOARDGAMERS OUT THERE, SPEAK UP!!! I want your opinion of the value of this game, since I'm used to playing games like Avalon Hill's Fortress Europa and that is what I will always compare WW2 strategy games to.

1. I haven't played against the AI in months, not since I started playing pbem. That said, the AI wasn't terrible. It just isn't as creative and "smart" as humans, not that I would expect it to be...

2. There is a large group of pbem players who play on 1.06 and can be reached at the slitherine forums. You are a lot less likely to get a response here on the matrix forums. It shouldn't be too difficult to find multiple opponents.

3. I haven't played with modding, but I've heard it's relatively simple. You can change some things using the scripts in the data folder, and they have released an editor. Again, someone else could answer this better. There's a really good mod posted on the slitherine forums called the "BJR" mod. It's very extensive, designed to make the game play out like the war did historically with two evenly-matched players. Each side just has to do better than they did historically.

4. Yes, taking the capital always knocks a country out, with a few exceptions. Major countries like the UK and Russia have two capitals, meaning that you have to take both of them to get them to surrender. If London falls, the seat of British power retreats to Canada. If Moscow falls, the Russian capital becomes Perm, which is near the far western edge of the map. So the Germans have to go a lot deeper into Russia than Moscow, and Britain will fight on even if the home islands are overrun.

5. Not an old gamer, but I really like this game. I play every day, with several pbem games going at once and it keeps me highly entertained. In my opinion, the game is overpriced but worth the $50 (if that makes any sense [&:])